Detachable arm rest for bed sofa



MarchS, 1960 R. RATER 2,927,328

DETACHABLE ARM REST FOR BED SOFA Filed Feb. 14. 1957 INVENTOR.

RUDOLPH RATER ATTORNEY 2,927,328 DETACHABLE ARM REST FOR BED SOFA Rudolph Rater, Spokane, Wash., assignor to Sofa-Matic, Inc., Spokane, Wash., a corporation of Washington Application February 14, 1957, Serial No. 640,165

2 Claims. (Cl. 552) This invention relates to improvements in convertible sofa beds or davenports, and more particularly relates to a detachable arm rest for a sofa bed.

It is becoming increasingly popular to furnish certain rooms such as a private den or library and family or recreation rooms with pieces of furniture which may be converted for dual use in the conventional manner and for a temporary bedroom. Among these, it is customary to employ sofa beds or davenports which convert from a piece of furniture resembling the conventional davenport into a flat cushioned piece to substitute for a bed. Among these, of course, there are many types, some of which have seat cushion portions which move forwardly and outwardly from the frame of the sofa bed to form a cushioned area sufiiciently large for one to recline upon. However, the most prevalent type is that one in which the back rest portion of the sofa bed is hinged for pivotal movement about an axis extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the sofa bed so that the back rest may be disposed on a fiat, horizontal plane coincident to the plane of the seat portion of the sofa bed.

Although my invention is not necessarily restricted to this latter type of furniture piece, it is admirably adapted for use therewith.

With sofa beds of the type lastly defined, the presence of arms on the ends thereof has caused a number of problems which limit the sales of the sofa bed. Obviously, it is necessary that the distance from end to end of the sofa bed shall be great enough for an average person to sleep in comfort Without touching either end. It therefore becomes necessary under present commercial practices to add arms to the outer ends of the sofa bed. Under average conditions it is desirable to have at least 6 ft. 6 in. of space between the arms for sleeping, and to result in a good, balanced appearance, it is then necessary for the arms to be from 6 to inches Wide, thus making an overall length for the sofa bed of from 7 ft. 6 in. to 8 ft. 6 in. In small rooms such as dens and private libraries a piece of furniture of this size is undesirable because of the limited space, and therefore it has been customary to produce sofa beds without arm rests to provide furniture having the shortest possible overall length. This is undesirable in appearance because the sofa bed then is obviously a davenport or convertible sofa bed and does not appear to be a conventional davenport.

My present invention seeks to provide means for releasably applying arm rests to a sofa bed, which arm rests will not increase the overall length'of the sofa bed and yet will impart to it the appearance of a modern davenport, and therefore overcome all of the foregoing objections.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be clearly seen from a reading of the specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts, and in which:

- Federated Niar. 8, 1960 Figure 1 is a perspective view of a sofa bed having the removable arms of my invention;

Figure 2 is a lateral vertical cross section taken sub stantially on the plane indicated by line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical fragmentary cross has the seat portion 10 and the back rest. portion 11.

disposed substantially perpendicular to each other. is conventional, the sofa bed is provided with a rigid frame 12 which is commonly formed of wood but may be of other materials if so desired. Feet 13 are secured to the frame and support the sofa bed. Also as conventional, the sofa bed is provided with a fabric or other,

material covering 14 which is cushioned in the conventional manner and supported by a plurality of coiled.

springs 15. All of this structure is conventional in much of the overstuffed furniture on the market today and is no part of my present inventionJ In Figure 1 it will be seen that the arm rests 20 are disposed in overlying relation to the cushioned covering 14 of the seat portion 10 In the view I have shown the back rest 11 as being shorter than the seat portion 10, but it will be understood that it may be shorter or the same length, or even longer as desired without violating the scope of the present invention.

In Figure 2 it will be seen that the arm rest 20 is pro- 7 vided with a base board 21 upon which is disposed cushioning material 22 covered by the covering material 14. The base board 21 is provided with depending latch bolts 23, one of which is more particularly disclosed in Figure 3 of the drawing. It will be seen that the latch bolt is provided with a flanged head 24 which is secured as by wood screws 25 to the base board 21. At its low e r end the latch bolt is provided with keeper slots 26 whicl 1 have upwardly presented shoulders extending athwart of the axis of the latch bolt 23. Obviously for convenience of manufacture these slots may be turned in the latch bolt and therefore completely encircle the circumference of the latch bolt 23.

To secure the arm 20 to the sofa bed, it is necessary that the latch bolts extend through the cushioned covering 14 and secure relative to the frame 12. I therefore have provided metal eyes 27 which define apertures in the covering material 14. Coaxial with the eyes and secured thereto, I provide guide members 28, and it will be seen that these guide members are helical springs having their upper ends secured to the eyes 27 and the lower ends secured to or resting upon the frame 12. It will be noted that the guide members are thus provided with means for compression and expansion to vary the length to permit sinking and raising of the seat cushion of the sofa bed in accordance with the weight applied thereto. Obviously, telescopic tubular members could also be employed at this point if so desired, and I do not wish to be restricted unnecessarily to helical springs.

It will be noted that the frame 12 is bored at 29 to receive the latch bolts 23, and communicating with the bores 29 are tubular housings 30 which receive the lower ends of the latch bolt 23 as seen in Figure 3. The tubular housings are provided with apertures at 31 through which the latches 32 of the latch means 33 extend and releasably associate with the keeper slots 26* adjacent to the ends thereof.

mamas I It will be noted that the latches 32 are secured to a tie 13:11 34 which is journaled for rectilinear movement on the frame 12 through guides 35. A tension spring '36 is secured at one end to the frame 12, and the other end to the tie bar j34'tO releasably maintain the latches 32 in latching engagement .with the keeperslots 26.

When, however, the tie bar 34 is moved in the direction of the arrow 37, the latches 32 are removed from latching engagement with the keeper slots 26 and the latch bolts 23 may be removed from the eyes 27 and therefore the arms 20 may be removed.

It is possible to release the latches 32 manually by reaching under the front edge of the sofa bed, grasping the tie bar 34, shifting it in the direction indicated by the arrows 37, and thus release the arm for removal.

I have provided, however, automatic means for releasing the arms when the sofa bed is converted for sleeping accommodations, and this comprises providing an extension 38 on the rearward end of the tie bar 34 with an upwardly turned actuating finger 39 at the extreme outer end thereof. It will be seen that as the back rest portion 11 is hinged at 40 to the seat portion and is movable from the'position as shown in Figure 2 substantially perpendicular to the seat portion 10 to a co-planar position indicated by'the dot-and-dash lines 41 of Figure 2, the back, portion 11 will strike the actuating finger 39 and thus shift the tie bars 34 in the direction .of the arrows 37, releasing the latches 32 from the keeper secured coaxially with said eyes extending downwardly and having their lower ends supported on said frame and constituting variable guide members; said arm having a pair of latch bolts disposed coincident to said metal eyes and insertable therethrough; tubular housings fixed relai tive to said frame coaxially with said eyes and guide members and adapted to receive the lower ends of said latchbolts; keeper slots in the lower ends of said latch bolts; latches extending through the apertures formed in said housings and adapted to associate with said keeper slots to releasably secure said latchbo-lts against movement upwardly therefrom; a tie bar uniting said latches and resiliently urging said latches into latching engagement with respect to said latch bolts; an actuating finger disposed to be struck by said back rest when in its c0- planar relationship to shift said tie bar and release said latch means whereby upon lowering said backrest, said slots; and thereby releasing both arm rests simultaneously.

The latches 32 are maintained out of latching relation raisedfrom the broken line position of Figure 2.

,A magnetic or frictionally retained plug 42 is shown inFigure 4 as being a decorative filler forthe eyes 27 when the arms are removed so that the sofa bed may be employed without the arms as an armless'davenport if desired.

until such time as the back restportion 11 is again Havingthus describedmy invention, I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States the following:

"1. In a sofa bed or the like having a cushioned covering;.a supporting frame; aback rest movable from a substantially perpendicular relationship to the cushion covering to a co-planar relationship. hinged upon said frame; and at least one removable arm rest: means for removably ,mounting said arm rest in overlying relationship to the cushion covering comprising a' pair of g spaced metal eyes in said covering and constituting apertux-es therethrough; helical'springs having their upper ends latch means are released and said arm rest is removable from said sofa bed.

2. In a sofa bed having a hinged frame constituting,

a cushioned seat portion and a tiltable back-rest movable from a substantially perpendicular relationship to the seat portion to a co-planar relationship; and at least one removable arm rest: means for removably mounting said arm rest with respect to said sofa bed comprising keeper means carried by said frame; latch means carried by said arm and releasably secured by said keeper means and serving to releasably secure said arm'with respect to said sofa bed; an actuating finger movablyrcarried by said frame'and adapted to release said keeper'means when actuated; and said actuating finger being disposed to be struck by said back rest when said back rest is disposed in said co-planar relationship with said seat portion. i 9

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 7 France Feb. 1, 1922' 

